Coming up: Brewer's Ball, Tavern 24

Sept. 8 at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery is The Brewer's Ball, a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Charlotte. Tickets are $75 (with $30 of that tax-deductible). You'll get to sample ales and lagers from area microbrewers, along with food from area restaurants, and a silent auction is planned. Featured brewers: Big Boss Brewing, Birdsong Brewing, Carolina Brewery, Four Friends Brewing, Highland Brewing, LoneRider Brewery, NoDa Brewing, Olde Hickory Brewery, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Triple C Brewing World of Beer and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly. Restaurants and food purveyors include All American Pub, Cupcrazed Cakery, East Blvd. Bar & Grill, Flatiron Kitchen and Taphouse, JJ’s Red Hots, Kickstand, The Liberty, Midwood Smokehouse and Whiskey Warehouse. Info: Email Dede Brand at dbrand@cff.org or call 704-321-7852.

Tavern 24 will open in December at 421 Cox Road in Gastonia, if all goes according to plan for Cafe Enterprises Inc. (parent company of FATZ). The tagline: Tavern 24 is "for anyone who'd rather drink in a restaurant than eat in a bar." Described as a laid-back tavern environment with American cuisine, it's slated to seat about 260. Its name comes from the "unlikely coincidence" that there are 24 hours in a day and 24 beers in a case. So you get its drift. Fare includes a stuffed beer burger (marinated with stout and stuffed with Monterey Jack and cheddar), baked wings, thin-crust pizza and salads.